Japan’s major cities conceal a second city beneath their streets. Underground shopping arcades (chika-gai or chikagai, literally “underground street”) developed from the 1950s onward as cities rebuilt their railway infrastructure and developers maximised use of the excavated space beneath major stations. Today these subterranean networks — some extending for hundreds of metres, connecting multiple station exits, department stores, and office towers — are fully functional commercial districts where many urban Japanese conduct significant portions of their daily shopping and eating without needing to surface.
Tokyo Underground Networks
Tokyo’s underground commercial networks are among the world’s most extensive. Key systems include:
- Tokyo Station Ichibangai and Character Street: The underground complex beneath Tokyo Station extends through multiple levels connecting Marunouchi, Yaesu, and Gransta sections. The Character Street section gathers flagship stores of Studio Ghibli (Donguri Republic), Pokémon, Rilakkuma, and other character merchandise brands in a single underground gallery — one of Tokyo’s most concentrated character merchandise destinations.
- Shinjuku Underground Network: Shinjuku Station is the world’s busiest by passenger count; its underground commercial network spreads across multiple department store basements, Metro Promenade (a 200-metre pedestrian gallery), and connects Takashimaya Times Square, Odakyu, Keio, and Lumine department stores without street-level passage.
- Shibuya Hikarie and Scramble Square Underground: Newer construction has added significant underground retail in Shibuya’s development zone, linking the rebuilt Shibuya Station complex to multiple towers.
Osaka’s Namba and Umeda
Osaka has the highest density of underground retail in Japan. The Namba area contains Namba Walk — a 600-metre underground shopping street running beneath Sennichimae-suji — connecting Namba Station to Nipponbashi and linking to multiple surface-level shopping arcades above. The Umeda area in northern Osaka is even more labyrinthine: the Whity Umeda and Diamor Osaka underground networks connect Hankyu, Hanshin, JR Osaka, and Osaka Metro stations through a subterranean retail complex that takes first-time visitors considerable time to navigate. The Osaka Station City development added multiple levels of underground commercial space when the station was rebuilt in 2011.
Nagoya Sakae and Central Japan
Nagoya’s underground scene centres on the Sakae district, where the Central Park underground mall runs beneath the surface streetcar route, and the Sunshine Sakae and Lachic shopping complexes add basement retail floors. The Nagoya Station Meieki area underground network connects Nagoya Station’s JR, subway, and private railway terminals through a multi-level underground commercial zone.
What to Find Underground
Japanese underground shopping arcades reliably contain: ramen, soba, tonkatsu, and other lunch-focused restaurants with queue management systems; bread and pastry bakeries (Japanese convenience-oriented chain bakeries are almost always present); convenience stores; bookshops; clothing and accessory stores targeting office workers; pharmacies and beauty supply; and echinuma-style food halls in basement levels of connecting department stores. The food hall (depachika) culture of Japanese department store basements deserves particular mention — these curated collections of prepared foods, sweets, and imported products are among Japan’s finest food retail environments.
For visitors, the underground networks provide weather-independent exploration and connections between tourist areas. The guide to Japan shopping covers surface retail culture, and Japan convenience stores covers the street-level counterpart to underground food retail.